MANILA (JGL) – After four decades in politics, 77-year-old Manila Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada still feels that he still has many more years of public service left ahead of him.
Taking a page from his idol, President Ronald Reagan, who was asked if he was going to run for re-election and saying, “No. I am not going to run. I want to retire when I can no longer carry my own luggage,” Mr. Estrada told this reporter that if ever he retires from politics, “I want to retire when I can still make love.”
“Wala ka na ngang magawa kung retired ka na (You are already left doing nothing when you had retired), why limit your ambition to carrying a luggage,” Mr. Estrada asked.
The “love” that keeps Mr. Estrada’s fire in his belly is his love to transform Manila back to its old glory.
Believing that a “quitter never wins,” Mr. Estrada is on course to keep Manilenos back on their feet.
Left with a proverbial empty bag by his predecessor, Mayor Alfredo Lim, Mr. Estrada found out that when he took over the City a year ago, the City owes Meralco (Manila Electric Company) 613-million pesos (US$14-M); the City was found by Commission on Audit in arrears by P3.5-B (US$79.5-M) although its cash holdings were placed at P1.006-B) (US$22.7-M); unpaid bill of P33,633,186.06 (US$764,390) and unpaid previous Year’s Obligation (PYO) amounting to P24,137,756.82 (US$548,585) by Maynilad Water Services, Inc. for a total of P57,770,942.88 (US$1.3-M) and Bureau of Internal Revenue tax liabilities of Manila for taxable year 2007 amounting to P684,418,057.76 (US$15.6-M) with interest computed up to April 15, 2014.
HIRING FREEZE
As a result of the deficit, Mayor Estrada has stopped hiring casuals and regular employees, which are composed of 11,000 employees. “We don’t have money to pay for the salaries of new employees,” Estrada said.
Like the mythical Hercules, Mr. Estrada had no choice but to clean Manila’s Augean Stable when he found it.
Slowly but surely, Mr. Estrada is trying to make a dent in its City’s tax collection, according to City treasurer, Liberty Toledo,
For instance in the City’s RPT (Real Property Tax) IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment), she was able to collect P6,236,237,807.81 (US$141-M) from January 2 to April 25, 2014 although the prior administration was able to collect for the whole of 2012 P7-B (US$1.5-M), according to Fritz Yenko, head of Manila’s General Services.
Estrada said his recent trip to Hong Kong to apologize to the Hong Kong government Hong Kong survivors for the botched rescue by Manila police to the Hong Kong tourists held hostage by a Manila policeman that resulted in the death of eight tourists and a Manila police captor was actually aimed at enticing back Hong Kong tourists back to Manila and the Philippines.
“We are not talking about compensating the tourist victims here,” Ike Gutierrez, Estrada’s consultant, told the Journal GlobaLinks. “The lives of tourists are priceless. Manila could not probably compensate the victims. But you know Erap (nickname of Mr. Estrada), wants to give abuloy (token donation) to those who died to assuage the feelings of the relatives of the victims.”
In extending a sincere apology to the surviving relatives of the Hong Kong tourists, their families and the Hong Kong government, Erap was able to regain the trust of the Hong Kong government. The Hong Kong government is now on course to lift the threat of sanctions against the Philippines, ranging from Hong Kong government’s ban against tourists to the Philippines, tourist visa restrictions to Filipinos going to Hong Kong and, of course, restrictions of working visas to more than 160,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW’s) in Hong Kong.
The decision of Mr. Estrada to apologize to Hong Kong victims and Hong Kong government was a rebuke to the decision of President Noynoy Aquino, who went on denial by not extending an apology to the mishandling of the hostage crisis by Erap’s predecessor, Mayor Lim, who was administratively penalized by Mr. Aquino’s trusted Local Government and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo before Robredo died in a plane crash.
C-IN-C SHRIEKING FROM RESPONSIBILITY
Commander-in-Chief Aquino has forgotten the Truman admonition that “the buck stops at the President” under the command responsibility doctrine.
Aside from tourists, Estrada has also in mind attracting business investors and donors to the capital city with his apology.
“The City of Manila has received offers from businessmen to put up high-rise condominium buildings, construction of SM mall in place of Central Market without the city spending a cent and donation of 10,000 Solar street lights from South Korean investors to replace the expensive Meralco electric lights,” Mr. Estrada said.
Some investors from Canada put together by Filipino Canadian investors are also planning to offer Manila a modernized waste management system (Plasco Energy Group) that will not only generate energy from the wastes but will restrict expansion of the ever burgeoning need to locate, relocate and expand additional spaces to dump Manila’s garbage. This is going to be Public Private Partnership legacy project of Mr. Estrada. He referred this project to his City Engineer, Robert Bernardo, for further consideration and study.
Another group of investors from California are going to propose to Mayor Estrada installation of solar panels at City Hall and other government buildings to cut down on the City’s electricity and power consumption.
Saying that there is “no economic growth without peace and order,” Mr. Estrada is bent on implementing a “one-strike” policy against kotong (extorting) cops.
Aside from reinstating some Manila police officers, who were placed in “floating” (relieved of their duties) status by Mayor Lim due to suspicion that these officers curried favors of Estrada during the Manila mayoral campaign elections, Mr. Estrada is planning to install some 385 CCTV (Close Circuit Television) cameras on major Manila street intersections not only to monitor congested traffic but also to catch “kotong” cops and document criminal activities around the metropolis of millions of people.
CCTV CAPTURES EXTORTION, CLEARS TRAFFIC
“Some of our CCTV cameras that were initially installed have already captured in real time a Manila police officer receiving extortion money from vendors and cleared up congested traffic,” an excited Estrada told this reporter. “We already dismissed the kotong cop.”
“We expect to catch more of the same once all the CCTV cameras are all installed not only in Manila streets but also on all business establishments doing business in Manila.”
Among those officers who are going to be given re-assignments, probably in Police Station No. 3 (Central Market), were Col. Luis R. Francisco, Jr. and SPO3 Felizardo “Dodie” Estrada, both formerly of Police Station No. 10 in Pandacan, who were relieved by Mayor Lim shortly after providing security escorts to then mayoral candidate Estrada.
Dodie Estrada is the younger brother of voice impersonator Filipino American Ronnie Estrada of Quezon City and San Jose, California.
To keep Manila police officers vulnerable from kotong activities, Mayor Estrada made good his promise to provide a lump sum four-month P10,000 (US$227) allowance to each Manila police rank and file and eight kilos of rice at a cost of P27.8-M (US$613,000) during his birthday last April 19th. “Di ba dapat ako ang ni-reregaluhan? (Isn’t is that I am supposed to receive a gift on my birthday?),” he said in a soliloquy.
Each policeman is going to receive P2,500 monthly allowance. Basic pay for an entry-level policeman is P20,000 salary a month.
“Umaasa ako na susuklian ng mga kapulisan and benepisio na ibinigay sa kanila ng Maynila ng tapat at kapaki-pakinabangan na serbisyo (I hope our (2,800-member) police officers will appreciate the generosity of the City government with loyalty and fruitful public service.) to boost their morale,” Estrada appealed. City Hall is being secured by former San Juan police officer, Police Chief Inspector Bernabe Adora Irinco, Jr., whose tour of assignment is determined by the Philippine National Police.
RETURNING MANILA’S FINEST BACK
“I want to bring Manila’s Finest back on the street.” Estrada allowed. He said Manila is now the worst police force in the metropolis for being involved in kidnapping, carnapping and other criminalities.
Under his watch, Mr. Estrada already relieved four station commanders and he hopes it will be it.
But he is facing trouble brought about by his truck ban during daytime. “How can trucks deliver their goods when Pier operation is closed at night?” an exasperated businesswoman dealing with Customs goods from Hong Kong to Manila asked the Journal GlobaLinks.
But in another face of the coin whose business were opened at night to decongest the vendors, Mr. Estrada is getting round applause with the opening of Divisoria Market at night.
“We are not only collecting P2-Million a month from vendors at P1,800 business permit each, we are able to clear up the streets of Divisoria that used to be occupied by vendors.”
Aside from peace and order, Mr. Estrada wants to provide Manila residents with affordable health care services by the City’s three public hospitals, namely Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital, San Lazaro Hospital and Philippine General Hospitals and the 64 health lying-in centers.
And Mr. Estrada wants to provide a boost on education, which consists of 103 public elementary and high schools, three universities, including the flag-ship Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, for the general welfare of the people, which he said “is the supreme law of the land.”
If Mr. Estrada could make good all his plans for Manila, the clamor for him to make a bid for presidency in 2016 will not be far-fetched.